My note to you today picks up on last month’s letter around developing tomorrow’s leaders. As I spoke about, a sneak preview of the yet released 2015 AA-ISP Top Challenges Research lists training & development the #1 issue for leaders and the #2 challenge for frontline reps.

My point today is simple; we need to TRAIN MANAGERS FIRST, instead of 2nd. That’s right… so often we see an organization roll out a training program to the sales floor leaving the managers behind… or it might include them as a participant in the same training as the reps.

4 reasons it’s critical to train your manager first:

Set the development tone. What this means is a manager’s skills, competencies, and attributes are front and center, and highly visible to the entire team. For example, if a manager doesn’t understand the importance of using “open ended” questions during the sales process, it will be difficult for them to transfer this skill to the team.

Establishing a learning environment. At the end of the day, it’s a rep’s manager who holds ultimate responsibility for the development of their team. Now, they may use trainers or other resources to actually do the training, but the successful development of a team and the learning environment they create, must come from the leaders themselves. Thus it only makes sense to train managers first so they understand all of the nuances and requirements of leading

Equip the Coach. An effective leader needs to be an effective coach. Would you expect a brand new coach who had one year of experience as a high-school assistant take on an NFL position? Of course not. The same holds true with sales leadership. You need to make absolutely sure you are developing your managers first so they have the skills required to be the effective coach that the team needs.

Lead by Example. Managers who are invested in training set an important example to their followers that training is a life-long process. It also tells others that they would not “ask others to do that which they do themselves”.

I hope you found my letter helpful. Please share your tips and ideas around this important topic by leaving a comment below.

For a deeper dive into this critical issue, please attend the upcoming AA-ISP Executive Briefing this Thursday on the topic of developing tomorrow’s leaders!